TUCSON, Ariz. - U.S. Customs and Border Protection Commissioner Alan Bersin met today with the commander of U.S. Northern Command, Adm. James A. Winnefeld, Jr., and other senior USNORTHCOM officials at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., to discuss the agencies’ ongoing partnership along the Southwest border.

“Over the past two years we have engaged in an unprecedented effort to bring focus and intensity to Southwest border security and we continue to seek new ways to effectively deter, disrupt and interdict transnational threats,” said Bersin. “CBP’s relationship with USNORTHCOM demonstrates our ongoing commitment to working with our federal partners to improve and enhance our operations.”

"Today's effort will enable us to better understand the areas where we can best support each other,” said Winnefeld. “Through Joint Task Force North, which is designed to support law enforcement entities in the U.S., USNORTHCOM is providing assistance in countering transnational criminal organizations. This support is routinely provided to the U.S. Border Patrol along our country's northern and southern borders."

Over the past two years, CBP has dedicated unprecedented manpower, technology and infrastructure to the Southwest border. Today, the Border Patrol is better staffed than at any time in its 86-year history, having nearly doubled the number of agents from approximately 10,000 in 2004 to more than 20,700 today – including more “boots on the ground” in Arizona than ever before. Apprehensions—a key indicator of illegal immigration—have decreased 36 percent in the last two years and are less than a third of what they were at their peak; violent crime in border communities has remained flat or fallen in the past decade; and statistics have shown that some of the safest communities in America are along the border.

Beyond these measures, CBP has recently taken additional steps to bring greater unity to enforcement efforts, expand coordination with other agencies, and improve response times, including by creating joint commands to bring together Border Patrol, Air and Marine, and Field Operations under a unified command structure.

In the coming months, CBP will continue to deploy additional resources to the Southwest border, including two new forward operating bases to improve coordination of border activities, improved tactical communications systems, 1,000 new Border Patrol Agents, and 250 new CBP Officers funded through the Emergency Supplemental for Border Security passed and signed into law in August 2010.